Surrounded by her family, Norma Ratchford (nee Stevens) passed into the loving arms of God on 12/15/2023.
Norma was born on May 6, 1927, the daughter of Malachi (Chi) Stevens and Vesta East Stevens. The eldest of six children, she grew up in St. Louis with brothers LeRoy, Richard, Donald, Del, and sister Erma. She remained in St. Louis following her marriage to Ernest Ratchford on June 26, 1948 and the city was her home for the rest of her life.
Strong in her Christian faith, she lived a simple life that was blessed with a large family and many friends. The large number of pictures displayed throughout her house reflected how proud she was of all members of the family – from her siblings down through her great grandchildren.
The majority of her life was spent taking care of that large family, a job she excelled at. It was her life’s mission to ensure that anyone who came to her house was well taken care of no matter the cost to her. If you were hungry (she loved to cook), thirsty, in need of a bed or anything else, her door was always open, no matter the hour. If you left her house hungry, you had no one to blame but yourself.
She traveled extensively, seeing all parts of the United States and multiple international locations; but she always stayed grounded in her Midwest roots.
Norma was a was a caring wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend.
She was a fighter all her life and arguably one of the toughest ladies that God has ever placed on this Earth. Over the course of her life, she survived everything the world threw at her from the Depression to World War II and finally Covid.
Norma is survived by her three loving daughters Karen Roeseler, Lynn (Bill) Warwick, and Lisa (Bill) Leonard, six grandchildren – Stephanie (Tony), Kyle (Kelly), Allyson (Andrew), Beth (Tim), Emily and Jake – and thirteen great grandchildren.
Family and friends are welcome to attend a celebration of Norma’s life, which will be held on Wednesday, December 20th at St. Mark Catholic Church (located at 4200 Ripa Avenue, St. Louis, 63125) with visitation at 9:30 AM and the funeral Mass at 10:30 AM.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to St. Jude (https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html).
My second mother in my youth.
Rest in peace mom!
Norma was the most wonderful mother-in-law a guy could ask for and she raised three great daughters.
I use to love the holidays at mom’s. All her siblings and their families would be there and Norma would put on a big spread. She took great pleasure in cooking for them all. Her deserts were awesome.
We will miss you mom, but now you get to be with Ernie, your brothers and Your sister.
God bless you!
Rest in peace mom. Norma was the very best mother-in-law a guy could ever want. She raised three wonderful daughters, had six loving grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren. I’ll never forget the holidays at mom’s house with her siblings and their families. She would put on quite the spread and she loved doing it. Her deserts were awesome. Mom will be greatly missed but now she can be reunited once again with Ernie, her brothers and her sister for eternity.
May God bless you mom!
Mrs Ratchford was a sponsor for my daughter’s Luke 18 group. The girls had so much fun staying with her We also knew her daughter Karen who taught both my daughters and taught much love to her family. Sorry we missed the funeral services just heard about her passing today in church bulletin Prayers for you all